


Ballad of the Fallen

by Battleturbine



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 08:56:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6949543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Battleturbine/pseuds/Battleturbine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Earth wasn't ready for the apocalypse. Izzy wasn't ready to be dumped into a new life with no memories. But some things were meant to happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ballad of the Fallen

Chapter 1: Izzy’s Release

 

**A/N: This is my second piece of fiction I am writing, and the first I plan to actually finish. If you haven’t noticed already, the chapter titles will usually probably be bad puns. English is my second language, so if I make grammar mistakes, don’t be afraid to let me know so I can fix it. Enjoy :D!**

 

**(POST UPDATE A/N:) You have to make first impressions good, right? Well, I didn’t exactly feel satisfied with this chapter and how it turned out, so gave it a few tweaks. And wow, it feels really different now (to me at least D:) The only thing I really left the same is the letter section.**

 

Many techniques can be used to escape the clock of time. Most of them involve death or godly powers, but some, man before squid had access to. For over 10,000 years, a sealed cryogenic pod containing the hope of the human race had sat at the bottom of the sea, defying both time and the elements. When the date had finally turned to the new year of 12,001 it was finally time to release humans once again unto the world.

 

Izzy’s eyes flew open, and for a second he flailed wildly, not recognizing anything surrounding him. Logic reasserted itself but a moment later, and he dragged his tangled limbs out of the pod and onto the sand of the beach he had landed on. He was gasping for air his lungs filled with a strong burning sensation. Pounding his chest rapidly, he coughed up cyanesque colored fluid that sizzled when it hit the ground. After laying on the sand simply gasping for air; Izzy only had one major question: who am I? 

 

He remembered basic training and all the knowledge it had taught him. But for the lime of him, he couldn’t recall any personal events. Family, friends, even his own name was lost to him. It was as if a great blanket of mist had descended onto his mind, blocking his thoughts.

 

A lesser man would've panicked on the spot, but Izzy simply gritted his teeth and decided to spit in fate’s ugly face. Standing up shakily, he checked the compartments lining the sides of the pod he was in. He found a small satchel with basic food and water supplies, a digital recorder, and a tightly sealed envelope that felt waxy to the touch. Ripping apart the binding, Izzy took out the letter and began to read.

 

Greetings, Agent. If you are reading this, then welcome to the future! The test was a success and you may find yourself among strange life forms never seen before. If this is not yet the case, we recommend that you remove all evidence of your existence from the landing point, as incognito may be the best option. You may have noticed colored liquid being excreted from your lungs and other organs, do not worry, this is our safe formula for ASL enhancements. 

 

Your body may take a few days to adjust, and with the adjustment there may be sickness, headaches, vomiting, and bleeding from the mouth. When your body has accepted the formula, it will replicate itself, and in 12-16 hours your physical as well as mental capabilities will be increased. While in adjustment, however, the fluid you excrete is highly unstable, and contains high amounts of acid. You will see you have not been provided with a weapon, but this acidic spit can serve as one. Gather saliva in your mouth, and simply eject it, and it becomes a weapon of its own until acceptance. 

 

The formula may also have wiped part of your memories, this should be temporary until your body restores it. If your memory does NOT return after acceptance, then they are unfortunately lost forever as corrupted atom strands. Good luck, and fight for the glory of mankind!

 

Izzy contemplated the gravity of his situation for a while, before simply shrugging. He pocketed the letter and recorder, and slung the satchel over his shoulder. Pressing the self-destruct button on the pod. He kicked it a few times and it rolled down the sandy incline and sank beneath the waves. Izzy was already traveling into the forest long before the explosion happened, but it distracted him enough to the point where he fell into a neatly concealed hole in the ground. “Oh you’ve got to be fu-” he complained before hitting the ground hard and blacking out.

 

\---

 

Chapter 2: Sticky situation

 

**A/N: You might be asking “What sorcery is this!? Two chapters in one day?” It is mostly because Fridays-Sundays are the only time I can really work on it. Izzy is also a derivative of a famous scientist (if that is what you consider him to be) and if you guessed it I could give your OC a cameo if you want. I guess that already offering incentive like that is kind of a jerk move considering I am not truly confident in my own writing, and this is only the second chapter. Am I setting it up to much, or no? Oh well, enjoy the chapter (hopefully)!**

 

**(POST UPDATE A/N:)  You may be wondering “But Panda-senpai, why all the changes?” Well my dear 12 readers, my writing is subpar at best. When I first write a chapter, I am USUALLY satisfied with it. Recently, based on self-evaluation and traffic graph trends, I need to REALLY step up my game. And so it begins (technically it began last chapter but, whatevs.)**

 

What felt like an eternity was in reality only a minute or two. Izzy found himself in a subterranean dugout. Slightly annoyed by the predicament, Izzy took a deep breath, and regretted it instantly. The smell of earth was overwhelming, and Izzy pinched his nose. Trying to stand, he muffled a cry of pain before falling back over. He went pale when he saw a piece of wood the size of his hand sticking out of his leg. He glanced near the entrance, and sure enough, now broken wooden spike sat there, almost mocking him. Fresh blood was not pouring, but flowing viciously onto the dirt, soaking it with a rich cyan blue.

 

The color was the most disturbing part, Izzy was pretty sure he wasn’t a scientist, but he definitely knew that blood once oxidized became red. The hissing noise it made as it hit the ground wasn’t doing his ears or sanity any favors, either. Forcing down a bit of bile from the grotesque nature of the wound, he pulled his body along farther into the alcove. Realizing the wood would splinter even more, he closed his eyes and gritted in teeth in preparation. The pain as he pulled out the oversized splinter was excruciating. Panting and whimpering softly, he let the wound pour out a bit of more blood before attempting to patch it. 

 

He tore out a buckle and strap from his satchel, and tied his jumpsuit to pseudo-seal the wound. As soon as the deed was done, he was assaulted by a wave of intense pain in his head. By the time he had opened his eyes after the pain faded, he was in the middle of nowhere, a bright light illuminating the entire landscape and making all but two figures impossible to make out.

 

“You’ll never secure a spot on the team if you can’t patch a tiny cut” the kneeling figure said. “I wouldn’t exactly call this tiny, you nearly amputated my leg!” the other retorted. Izzy attempted to call out to them, but he found his mouth was sealed shut and his legs refused to move. “I swear, Izzy, I don’t know why I keep helping you. Here, I'll patch it up, but this is the last time!”

 

As soon as the vision came it was gone, resulting in Izzy snapping his head up and hyperventilating. He was still in the dugout, a fresh layer of sweat coating the inside of his suit. How much time has passed? Judging by the light filtering in from the opening, only an hour or so had passed. But still, an hour for what felt like a minute vision? Who were they, and why did Izzy sound familiar? Propping himself up to a sitting position, he pulled out a sealed can of corn, still slightly cold from the cryo chamber. 

 

Realizing he had no can opener, he resorted to tearing the lid off with his teeth. Izzy sighed to himself, it was clear this would be his stop for the day. Izzy had woken up a few times during the night, mostly to expunge increasing amounts of the ASL fluid that still wreaked havoc with his body. As a result, by the time the first light of dawn rolled around, Izzy woke up, still tired and quite unhappy. He checked his wound to see if it was festering. What he saw made him do a double take, there was still a cut, but the skin appeared to be already clotting and creating a small scar. 

 

He assumed it to be the work of the fluid; after all, the people who sent him here did mention it “enhanced him” so he assumed some genetic modification was in order. He actually did find alcohol in his supplies, and he ASSUMED it was for medical reasons. After all the drinking limit was 21 and… wait. How old was he? Izzy groaned, he didn’t even know how old he was or what he looked like! He was assuming he was at least in his teen years based on his height and muscles, no way was he twenty or older.

 

One out of the dugout hole, he noticed a small metal plaque next to it. On it scribbles that can only be described as a cross between bad internet fan drawings and weeaboo Japanese. The symbols and flow of the writing was completely incoherent to Izzy. Either he was in Japan and a madman lived here, or this was the work of a new sentient life form. Frowning, he trudged on his way through the underbrush.

 

o0(In Octo Valley)0o

 

“Gramps, we’re home!” came the voice of a young inkling, sporting a pinkish-black motif. Accompanying her was a similar looking one, but with a greenish-black themed outfit and grayer hair. The green girl dumped a container with a catfish looking creature spouting sparks out of its’ whiskers onto the table. 

 

A shriveled, elderly looking inkling came out of the only other room in the shack he called home. There were pictures of octopus looking creatures plastered on the sides of the walls, and a certain gleam in the elder's eyes that were a testament to his experience. “Aye, great work buckos! You never fail to warm my old three hearts. Anyhow, I know ye just got back from a mission but there is something that demands our attention.”

 

The duo gave him a quizzical look before sitting at down at a small table. “Marie and I have a special for the weapon update later today, but I think we have a few hours.” the green one explained. “But I am sure we can make time for grandpa, right Callie?” Marie said innocently. Callie rolled her eyes at Marie before turning back to the elderly squid. “Anyway, what would you have us do, anyway grandpa?” The squid in question puffed up before pulling out a set of photos and laying them on the table. “These are photos of seagull beach at around 6:00pm yesterday.” Depicted in the photos, there were explosions and smoke rising from the sea accompanied by shadow pictures of a figure retreating into the jungle. “The Octarians may have sent an agent to infiltrate Inkopolis!” 

 

“Grandpa, I know this is a serious mission, but why do you have surveillance on a random beach?” Callie questioned. “Research purposes?” the squid offered. Both Callie and Marie gave him a death stare. “Eh heh heh.” he said, clearing his throat. “Anywho, I want you two to investigate the area without drawing too much attention to yourselves. Just do a scouting report and come back.” 

 

“Aye aye cap’n!” the girls responded jubilantly. 

 

o0(Jungle near Seagull Beach)0o

 

Izzy was having a really bad day, his leg wound itched like crazy, he probably attracted several predators with the scent of his blood, and his ASL fluid didn’t want to give him a break. Every few steps he had to stop to spit out a blob, withering the plant life beneath him. And to top it off, the veins in his right arm out had burst out into a glowing spider web of bluish light, and pulsated frequently. It was like some sort of mutant rash, and it hurt like hell. 

 

Stopping for the thousandth time, he spat out a large wad of cyan gloop. Before he could get moving again, he tensed up, and hearing something coming in his direction from the fauna, he leaped up and grabbed onto a thick tree trunk. Dragging his body up, he willed himself not to cry out in pain as his leg protested every movement. Atop his nature post, he saw two creatures emerge from the thicket of leaves in the direction he was walking. 

 

They appeared humanoid enough, with distinct features such as fangs protruding from the upper jaw, and hair that at closer inspection was… tentacles? They were also blabbing to each other in some sort of gurgling language. Either they were also midgets, or they were adolescents, by human standards at least. They stopped suddenly below the tree he was perched on. He caught his own breath, the wound on his leg had reopened and a small stream of blue blood fell off, dripping rhythmically onto the ground in front of the two creatures. 

 

Uttering a short “FUCK”, he leapt off the trunk onto the next closer one, before dropping to the ground and breaking into a sprint. He heard a startled cry from the creatures, and it was obvious they were giving chase. Heart hammering in his chest, and sped through the forest, uncaring to where he ended up. 

 

\---

 

Chapter 3: Seeing the world through a cyan-tinted lense

 

**A/N: I just spent all day at the Ford auto reveal. I can’t tell you what I saw caused I signed a paper and yadda yadda, but they were REALLY cool. I think they release info on Wednesday, so have fun with that. By the by, do you guys want constant updates (1-2 a day on weekends, 2-4 a week) and short chapters?  Or do you want longer updates (1 for the weekend, 2 a week) and longer chapters? Also, I am aware my grammar and knowledge of Splatoon physics is not amazing, so seriously, PM or leave it along with a review so I can revise it! I also enjoy as many reviews as possible, even negative ones. Negative ones are usually the best, as they tell me what I am doing wrong (if you are not a jerk about it :P) but the positive ones are always nice to see. Also, no, this is not the end of world/character building. I just wanted to make sure this story actually relates to Splatoon and is not just a crappy sci-fi story :D. By the way, I am a learning artist, so if you guys want me to draw a cover depicting what I think Izzy looks like, I will give it my best shot. Also, I add in a reason on how Izzy will communicate with inklings… it may be fairly stupid though, so fair warning.**

 

**(POST A/N:) Oh boy, I sure royally fucked up this one. Not only did I NOT post the ORIGINAL Author’s notes the first time, I also realized how stupid this chapter is. But I need to keep it in for plot reasons, so prepare for only some minor grammatical and phrasing tweaks that I caught. And yes, I did see the Continental, Raptor, and da other one in person before most other people did. I even got a photo with Bill Ford!  I kind of really want a Raptor now.**

 

“Well that was strange.” Callie murmured as she pulled out some blood that had landed on her tentacles. “And what is this stuff it was leaking? Pretty sure this isn’t ink.” Marie tapped her foot and scratched her chin. “I dunno, I guess the best thing to do is finish surveillance like the Cap’n asked us to.”

 

oo0OO0oo

 

Izzy sped through the underbrush, adrenaline pumping through his body, the green of the forest turning into a blur as he raced past. Izzy was fairly certain they would catch him if he didn’t find a hiding spot soon, the wound on his leg tearing slightly wider with every step. It didn’t help he left a trail of blue behind him, a stark contrast to the colors of the forest. Izzy stopped at a small clearing, bending over to catch his breath, his heart hammering in his chest. He didn’t hear any sounds of pursuit, so he slid to the ground against the back of a huge oak tree. Breathing heavily, he touched his now reopened wound. He instantly regretted the decision, and withdrew his hand, hissing loudly. 

 

He sat there, drifting in and out due to the profusely bleeding wound. After an hour or two, he checked his leg, the wound had resealed once again, but the tissue had left a major scar this time as a result. Sighing before running his hand through his hair, he dragged himself to his feet, and paused. There, a bush rustled every so slightly, and only a slight growl could be heard before a wolf-like creature leaped out, jaws bared for Izzy’s neck. 

 

Shocked for a moment by the abruptness of the attack, Izzy took an wobbly step back, tripping over a tree trunk and falling onto his back with a loud thud. The creature pounced on his chest, teeth gnashing as a liquid akin to paint or ink dribbled from its’ mouth onto his exposed skin. Izzy brought his right arm around, and attempted to strangle the beast, when the spider web of blue light once again blossomed in his arm. As soon as he made contact with the wolf, however, time seemed to freeze    
  


Izzy found himself quite low to ground, making his way swiftly across the forest floor. He didn’t know where he was going, but instinct told him he had almost made it… so very close! His vision then cut to him pinned against a wall by several of the wolf creatures, drawing in closer, jaws snapping and popping as they sized up their prey. He was then limping through the forest, licking his wounds when he picked up a scent almost forgotten to his nose. Human. He broke into a full sprint, passing other startled animals. There, the human had its’ back turned to him. He was about to bite into the soft flesh of the neck when… wait. That was him. Izzy was staring at himself, his mouth gritted as his right arm came around and…

 

Izzy gasped loudly as he returned to his own body, the wolf slumped over next to him, unconscious or dead. His whole body shaking wildly, he looked at his arm, now pulsating with waves of blue light. The wolf had started to stir, its’ eyes darting around before settling once again on Izzy. “Stop” Izzy said. The words felt weird, almost alien, something was off about it. This seemed to have an immediate effect on the beast, as it stopped growling and now stared at him with intense curiosity. “Human speak lupus?” the beast said. Izzy stopped cold, did the wolf just speak to him? “Do you just speak?” Izzy said, questioning the canine as it put its’ nose between its’ paws. “No, you speak lupus to me.” it replied, ruffling the fur across his body. “I... “ Izzy stopped himself, and made a monumental effort to speak English. “Can you understand me still?” The creature paused, before saying “Human went back to gurgle, is okay to eat?” It took Izzy a moment before he realized the gravity of his situation. He tapped into the memories of another sentient being, and absorbed knowledge from it. Staring at the wolf, he tried his best to go back to lupus. “No, go find something else to eat.” content with the small whine that accompanied his statement, Izzy brushed himself off before attempting to find a path out of the labyrinth of a forest he was in.

 

The wolf had seemed to stay put, and Izzy heaved a sigh of relief. It was one thing to be pursued by humanoid squid creatures, but to be accompanied by a talking dog? That was just plain ridiculous. 

 

It was pretty clear Izzy had no idea where he was going, he wandered around for another hour before grunting in frustration and taking a break. “Too many tree.” Izzy complained. He blinked, before realizing what he had just said. “Great, now I even talk like a wolf, too.” He was about to stand up and continue on his way before he felt a great deal of ASL fluid boil his stomach. Izzy moaned, before coughing up a mixture of blood and ASL. He fell back to the ground, his head breaking out in a feverish sweat. Guess this is stage two Izzy glumly thought. Resigned to another night of sleeplessness, he crawled over to a tree and rested his head against it.

 

oo0OO0oo

 

“Cap’n Cuttlefish!” the excited voice of Marie called out. The door to the ramshackle hut opened, and the old inkling in question peered out before grinning widely as he recognized his grand squids “Come on it, lads! I have some leftover crabby cakes and some tea for ye.” he said. Callie trailed behind Marie, mumbling quite intensely to herself. One the trio was comfortably seated at the small wooden table, Marie started blabbing about everything that had happened in such a rapid pace, even Callie could hardly understand her. “Woah woah,slow down bucko.” the Cap’n said. “Give me the gist of the situation, ye hear?” Marie paused and took a deep breath, before Callie cut her off. “We went to investigate the site like you ordered, and found a suspect. And before you ask, no it wasn’t an Octoling. We aren’t exactly sure what ‘it’ is, but it was obviously wounded, and was leaving behind a fluid from its’ leg. I managed to catch some, and it appears to be acidic to the touch, but appears to be very similar to ink. I also scanned around at the actual explosion site, and found shreds of a weird substance.” She put a capsule containing the waxy paper fragments from the envelope Izzy had torn a while back.

 

The Cap’n absorbed all Callie had told him, and examined the contents of the container. He frowned, and scratched his bushy mustache, deep in thought. “The only other time I saw something similar to this kind is when I first met Judd…” he trailed off. His eyes lit up like fireworks before grinning widely. “Girls, I need you to do one more thing for me…”

 

\---

 

Chapter 4: Deja Vu?

 

**A/N: So, I decided to browse through the other stories on the site. After reading some of the other ones, I seriously considered stopping this story out of pure lack of quality… but I made a promise, and I intend to keep it. Oh well, guess your writing only gets better when you actually write. I am really hesitant to write this chapter, as I fear I am diving into a cliche wrapped with trope topped off with stereotypical. But… plot progression and conflict beats out logic? Enjoy the chapter anyway :D ! I’ll have authors notes at the end, also. Mostly to iron out my schedule and some things I can only reveal after this chapter.**

 

Al was a pretty straightforward guy. He was big, had muscles, and had smart people to tell him who to punch. It wasn’t that bad of a life really, he got to pound on little weaklings and watch them squirm, and the smarty smarts resolved their issues. At Least, that how his life HAD been going. That had all went to pegasus dung when his employers asked him to take part in some sort of freezer test run or something. Turned out he woke up in the future, with his only thought being a strong desire to beat the shit out of the people who sent him here. And when he found a severed tentacle running around like a mouse in cage? Well then he really got angry. What he couldn’t understand or didn’t like, got his fist. 

  
After kicking the thing around for a bit, Al was about to go in for a punch between the eyes, when his right arm lit up like a fucking Christmas tree. He had been coughing up the stuff since he got here. Granted, it would pretty cool to intimidate someone by spitting blood-red acid at them, but the stuff had made him feel more than sick. Grumbling about magic government drugs, he paid it no heed until he actually touched the thing. He had seen a bunch of things he couldn’t discern if he got it on replay. 

 

After shaking his head to break out of the memory, was about to bring the pain when…

 

“w- wait!” the creature called out, quivering with fear. Al stared at the thing before pulling it closer, eye to eye. “You better start talkin’ real fast.” He grumbled. 

 

oo0OO0oo

 

Izzy was having a pretty decent day for once. The trees were thinking, and the chatter of the wildlife grew dimmer as he reached the border between the forest and whatever lie beyond it. He had stopped hacking up ASL, so he assumed he had fully adjusted now, and to be honest, it felt great. It was as if his entire body got a vacation to a Caribbean hot spring for a year, his joints moved like well-oiled machinery, his lungs regulated the air he brought it in greater amounts, and he could lift decent-sized logs out of his way with no problem. He had even accidently grown fangs at one point, and had a strange craving for meat, but both went away before they caused any issue. The only major problem troubling him was his memories. In short, they were still gone, and he hadn’t gotten a flashback since that day in the dugout. 

 

Pushing his dark thoughts to the back of his mind, he actually tried to fully enjoy his time today. He hadn’t given much thought to where he was going to go, maybe he should try to find the weird squid-like creatures he saw earlier. He assumed his lingual capabilities were not limited to dogs only, so if he could get in contact it was possible he could learn the language fairly easily. Stopping for a brief rest, he checked his supplies. He had one can of beans, and a water bottle that was half-empty. He would have to find something to replenish his food and water source soon anyways, so his safest bet was to either hunt and gather, OR find a city, if the natives had evolved enough to the point of them building one. Brushing away the last branch from his face, he found himself staring in awe at the sight before him. A huge metropolis lay out before him, huge buildings that went beyond the clouds gleaming with the sun's’ rays. A bridge stretched out across a vast body of water, connecting the metropolis to another smaller, but equally as impressive, city. 

 

Izzy was pretty sure he had never seen something like this is his entire life, he spent most of it at the institute training for whatever he was doing now. He was so mesmerized he almost didn’t hear the screeching noises on the track as a train was about to come through the tunnel he was near. Throwing himself back into the thicket he had come from, he peered out from between the cracks and crevices in the branches. The train grinding to a halt, letting out a surprisingly catchy tune before depositing several of the ink creatures onto the loading area. It was hard to see from the other side, but most of them were milling around, on what appeared to be cellular devices. 

 

Perfect, he could wait until nightfall, find a ink creature alone, a HOPEFULLY extract knowledge without harming it. He was already shifting gears in his mind, formulating a perfect plan- hey is that a shirt in front of him? That was there before- OH SHIT SHIT SHIT, INK THING DIRECTLY AHEAD!

 

oo0OO0oo

 

“Yeah, real funny James.” A blue colored inkling yelled out to his friend, who was giggling furiously. He rolled his eyes, and waited for the train to pass before crossing the track to retrieve his favorite shirt (it was a gift from his… friend girl after all). James had went on without him, probably getting his own bag from the staff. He bent down to pick up the shirt, when a glowing blue hand shot of the bush, directly onto his neck, his yelp of surprise being silenced by the ASL activating. 

 

oo0OO0oo 

 

Izzy was left extremely exhausted by the process, even just tapping into the language had wiped him out!. The memories as a result were rambly and incoherent at best, so he was still left in the dark on how the basics of their culture worked. Aware the unconsciousness of the drain would be very finite, he pulled himself to his feet before retreating along the side of the forest, stopping when he reached a low wall that probably led into an Alleyway. He was tempted to jump it now, but the combination of daylight, his odd clothing, and the exhaustion left him with the thought of sleeping until night. Izzy crawled once more beneath the canopy of the forest, and taking in the strong smells of earth and nature, he simply said “This is the last time.” The forest didn’t respond, but Izzy knew it would miss him dripping blood all over it. Yawning softly, he pulled out the recorder and recited all that had transpired the past few days. Feeling his eyes closing rapidly, he finished his log and was asleep almost the moment he turned the device off.

 

**A/N: So how was it? I was very tempted to stay away from the troped of there being “an evil version of you with your powers!” so I changed it to a more brains/brawn relationship. And yes, Al’s ASL glows red instead of blue, speculate all you want on that. I don’t really plan on adding more humans in, but IF I do, they will also probably use variants on ASL. I’m going to REALLY try to get out decent 1k word chapters everyday, but life is life and I may have delays. Sorry in advance if you check tomorrow and nothing is here for you! I’ve been analyzing my writing, and tried to improve upon certain points during this chapter like detailing, and using a plethora ( <\-- :D) of words. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and remember, reviews are always welcomed (along with maybe a follow or two? ;D)**

 

**\---**

 

Chapter 6: Through the dark of Night

 

**A/N: “Oooh, you are in so much trouble!” - Evil me. “Why? I already fixed like half the entire story I have D:” - Me. “You totes stole a scene from like a story.” “Care to tell me which story that is?” “No, it is more fun to see if more people notice and harp on you for it, but seriously, reconsider rewriting that section.” “Aren’t you supposed to be evil?” “Well yeah, but I can’t exist if you get all mopey for accidently pissing off someone by stealing their story :D”  Anyway, I read up on the stories mentioned I borrowed creative liscense from, and this was my reaction:** [ **http://giphy.com/gifs/comic-con-sdcc-jontron-XkyYjj3E7cAFO** ](http://giphy.com/gifs/comic-con-sdcc-jontron-XkyYjj3E7cAFO)

**Might was well follow the rest of it and add my own twists right? Despite positive feedback on it, I kinda feel shitty for doing that, accident or not. If either author of the stories I have imitated feels that they would like that part removed, tell me and I’ll redo it.**

 

**(POST UPDATE A/N:) I’m getting feedback on my average grammar usage! Huzzah! Anyway, I touched up a few spelling errors and ironed out some perspective ones as well. Starting chapter 8, I’ll be adding in more page breaks. Call me lazy, but when most of your writing is done on a mobile device that's smaller than a usual phone, I get some slack, right? Riiiight…? Something about starting a new paragraph every time someone speaks irks me… don’t know what, and I still appreciate the advice, but ugh. I think I will try to do it more often, but for the most part the speech will stay the same.**

 

Izzy would have honestly liked to be back in the cryo chamber right about now. His trek through the forest was mostly uneventful, save for the wolf attack. The second he got here, weird shit starting happening. For one, he was being pursued by someone, he met a literal street urchin, and he saw some sort of illegal smuggling shit going on in a back alley. Not that it really mattered, he couldn’t exactly reveal himself to the populace, and was lucky enough the inkling didn’t notice he wasn’t one himself. 

 

After wandering around for a bit, he was surprised at how little inklings were out. It was the dead of the night, but still, only that one occurrence? He eventually found an odd-looking sewer grate, strange markings and words covering the sides. He made a mental note that he couldn’t read ASL gained languages, before crouching to get a close look. Hearing distant footsteps, he flattened himself against the side of a snack machine, and looked cautiously around the corner. 

 

As long as clones didn’t exist, Izzy swore that the inkling walking this way was the same one that smuggled that octoling to wherever it went. The inkling eventually reached the same sewer grate was hiding near, before turning into a… literal squid… and sliding through the grate. Unable to find a latch to follow him, Izzy was content with waiting for him to come back. After all, he couldn’t be gone ALL night, and he did have a… guest staying over. It was a solid hour or two before the inkling found his way back to the grate. Brushing himself off and mumbling about someone called Callie, he made his way in the general direction of his apartment. In his mind, Izzy had two options. Try to find a secluded alley to hide in for the day, or attempt to gain the inklings help. 

 

He went with the later, and stepped out from behind the dispenser. “You.” he called out. The inkling turned around, a quizzical look on his face. “You’re that guy from the alley…” he murmured. “Did the Octarians send you to retrieve that octoling? If so, take her. I planned on helping her get back anyway.” Izzy quirked his eyebrow at the information he revealed. “No, I have nothing to do with the Octarians, but I also have nothing to do with the inklings. I need your help, and I am aware you’re already harboring this octoling, but I have nowhere else to go.” The inkling went from curious to confused. “If you’re not an octoling or inkling, what are you? And why me of all people?” 

 

Izzy took a step fully into the moonlight, the rays catching in the metallic alloys of his jumpsuit and causing him to take on a ghostly appearance. The ASL in his right arm pulsed with a rhythmic beat and small light. Izzy smiled inwardly, taking a slight pleasure of the shock and awe on the inkling’s face. 

 

oo0OO0oo

 

“So… do you need a place to sleep?”

 

“The floor will be adequate.”

 

“Are you hungry?”

 

“Not enough to warrant eating, no.”

 

“Are you going to tell me anything about yourself?”

 

“Not unless the situation deems it necessary.” 

 

“Do you have anything to change into?”

 

“Do I secrete a foul odor?”

 

“No it's’ mostly hard to look at you without feeling inadequate.”

 

Izzy rewarded the inkling’s attempt at a joke with a quiet snort. Hamil wasn’t muscular, but he wasn’t exactly skinny either. Izzy also held the advantage for being genetically modified, so he gave Hamil credit where it was due. 

 

He had seen the octoling peer around the corner as he came in, and saw her face turn red as a tomato as she presumably went back to where ever she was staying. Izzy, feeling self conscious, took a hard look at himself in the bathroom mirror. And wow, he was ripped. It didn’t help the suit was nearly skin tight, and displayed his abs for all to see. 

 

Never being one for attention, he was keen on possibly getting more modest gear to change into, but he couldn’t let the inkling know that directly. He had decided to take the ‘stoic quiet’ feel after the inkling had agreed to accommodate him. 

 

“If you have something my size to change into, sure.” The inkling scratched his head before shrugging. “Guess you’ll be sleeping that.” Izzy laughed softly, “Still better in here than on the dirt.” The inkling nodded before rounding the corner. Izzy was closing his eyes, letting gentle sleep overtake him… “Oh, and it’s Hamil.” Izzy cracked one of his eyes open. “Hmm?” he mumbled. “Hamil.” the inkling said sheepishly. “That’s my name. You told me yours was Delta?” Izzy nodded, and the inkling went off to bed.

 

**A/N: Sorry about the short chapter, but getting through this chapter without screwing it up was hard today. It was even a chapter I have been looking forward to! Anyway, I promise you’ll get a longer chapter tomorrow to make up for it :D.**

 

\---

 

Chapter 7: Low Key

 

**A/N: So, did you catch why I named Hamil, Hamil? I don’t expect you to, but it is a derogative term of a species of squid. Bad puns aside, you’re getting a longer chapter today! (Cause panda is a jerk and did like a 700 word one yesterday). I’m also collaborating with another member on something big, I can’t really tell you what yet, but expect it to be very interesting. Also, chapter 4 has like 73 visitors, while chapter 5 has like 80. Wazzup with that?**

 

Despite having an actual heated carpet to sleep on, Izzy woke up very early in the morning. Since he still couldn’t read the language (the clock appeared garbled) he assumed it was at least 6:00 due to the lazy gray light filtering in through the window. Getting up and stretching, he was at a lost for something to due. He assumed he couldn’t cook human food to begin with, he didn’t even want to try messing with whatever they ate. The TV or radio would wake up Hamil and the octoling, so Izzy resorted to doing pull ups on a low hanging pipe. Losing count at around 150ish, he resorted to planning what he would do once he had full info and everything that had happened after he got transported here. 

 

He didn’t even notice the octoling approach until he heard a timid “Hello.” Dropping down from the pipe, he turned around and took a good look at the octoling. Nervous with his lack of a direct response, she started to shuffle away. “Wait” He called out. “Can you answer a few questions for me?”

 

She nodded, and Izzy took a deep breath before continuing. “First, what’s your name? Second, what time is it? And third, what exactly are you in correlation to Hamil?” Absorbing his words, she thought for a bit before responding. “My name is Berenice, but people just call me B. I think it’s like 6:30 in the morning, and the last one is a bit complicated.” Izzy shrugged casually “I don’t have anything better to be doing, fire away.” She sat down across from him and was silent for a minute before starting.

 

“I am an Octarian, and my subspecies is known as an octoling. We have been enemies to the inklings ever since the great turf war, after the inklings stole the great zapfish…”

 

Izzy caught the hesitance in her voice, and raised his eyebrow. “You don’t seem too confident in that statement…”

 

She sighed, before running a hand through her hair (tentacles?) and sinking farther into the couch. “It’s like despite everything I have been told, and everything I was trained to do… I find myself not wanting to do it.”

 

Izzy let out a bittersweet laugh before simply saying “Welcome to Earth.”

 

oo0OO0oo 

 

The rest of the day had gone smoothly. He had mostly exercised for its’ entirety, as Hamil had taken B back to Octo Valley. Speaking of which; they should’ve been back by now. If his life continued following standard tropes he could expect the door opening with Hamil and B still together because - Izzy’s train of thought was interrupted as he heard the door lock jingling, and sure enough, Hamil walked in with B in tow. 

 

Izzy sighed inwardly, resigned to the fact the inklings he had first seen that night with Hamil would show up any minute now - “Delta!” Hamil called out. Izzy stood up, stretched, and walked over to the couch. “I have really bad news… first off-” “They blocked Octo Valley and now your friends are coming over for some event you forgot because you had two strangers from different species living in your house?” Izzy questioned, cutting him off. 

 

Hamil blinked before stuttering out a yes. “How did you-” “How did I know that? Don’t know, call it future vision.” Hamil missed the sarcasm in the comment, and simply nodded. “We need to find a hiding place for both of you.” “Assuming the rest of this goes according to how I foresee it, you probably are putting B in the closet. If your window connects to back alley, I can jump out for now.” “I don’t even think inklings could make that jump without hurting themselves…” Hamil stated, concern in his voice. 

 

“Trust me” Izzy said calmly, standing up. “I won’t be actually falling to the ground, I’ll just hang off the windowsill and hopefully no one decides to go into the alleyway.” “Alright, but be careful.” Hamil mumbled, before dragging B along with him the bedroom area. If Izzy wasn’t hurrying, he would’ve found time to make an innuendo joke. 

 

Cracking the window open, Izzy slipped out before grabbing the edge, careful not to go into a freefall. A few minutes later, a soft knocking sound could be heard. Izzy didn’t hear much the rest of the time, but the main idea was that they didn’t discover B, Hamil was invited to something called a turf war later, and the names of the ones who had come over were as followed: Sepiot, Walvi, and one called Neo. He heard Hamil approach and call out a soft “Delta?”. Izzy pulled himself back into view, much to the surprise of Hamil. “Jeez, you held onto that for like half an hour…” Izzy shrugged, before saying “I did like a few hundred pull ups this morning while you were still asleep, I think I can handle this.” 

 

oo0OO0oo 

 

The rest of the day had gone by without incident. Hamil at one point had gone off to participate in turf wars, which left Izzy with B. Izzy had mostly chosen to leave her to her own things; he wasn’t ignoring her, but not actively seeking interaction either. At one point, Hamil returned with a small bag. “I got us something to eat… I’m not exactly sure what you eat so help yourself to the fridge if you’re hungry.” Izzy waved him off. “I have something to do first anyway. He took a seat on the couch, pulled out his recorder, and relayed the events of the previous day, taking care to speak in quiet English.

 

Izzy didn’t notice Hamil standing in the doorway of the kitchen until he was finished. “What was that you were speaking?” Hamil asked curiously. Izzy now taking notice of him, simply gave a small shrug, before returning to the inkling language. “English, one of the main languages of my kind.” “How do you know inkish then?” Hamil asked. “I don’t know” Izzy lied, not wanting to retell his assault on the blue inkling. He did leave him unharmed, but Hamil didn’t fully know about his ASL yet. “I just woke up with it I suppose.” 

 

Hamil let out a yawn. “I’m heading to bed, you’re free to do whatever for now.” 

 

“Goodnight.” Izzy replied. He waited until Hamil had left before sinking once more into the carpet of the living room. He should’ve left by now… why didn’t he? What was keeping him here? 

 

**A/N: Hue hue hue, more squid puns. Also, slight character interaction, yay! Izzy seems to be pretty anti-social right now, shame on him! Did you know I originally had a completely different outline for this chapter? Dunno why it ended up like this, but it did.**

 

\---

 

Chapter 8: The mounting darkness

 

**A/N: So, I was gone from like 7:00am-6:30pm all day at a gaming tournament. It was fun, but jeebus it took a lot out of me. My team won, and I got a decent sum of money to to pay for rent n’ stuff. I stick to my half-promise of daily chapters though, so here is one I should’ve saved for when I was refreshed b-cuz character development n stuff! Am I using letter slang properly? I still get mixed up occasionally when I try to use it, but puns are puns. What are the chances someone connects the dots between my hint at a project in the A/N and another member’s hint at a project in their A/N? Only time will tell.** **Engelska är förvirrande. Jag försöker få det rätt, och det är alltid kul att prova något nytt. Ha fun med detta genom Google Translate.**

 

**(POST UPDATE A/N:) Fixed some stuff. Same old, same old. Expanded the opening flashback.**

 

“You need to start taking this seriously Izzy, Cyrus said-” “Why is it always Cyrus!?! Why can’t I be measured as my own person, and not be expected to be something I’m not!” Izzy said shakily, the girl from before crouching next to him. “I’m not Cyrus, and he is not me. Why can’t they see that Lightning?” 

 

Lightning blew stray strands of hair out of her face, before sitting down and patting the ground, beckoning Izzy to join. “I don’t expect you to be Cyrus, Izzy. I do however expect you to give your best despite that.” Lightning smiled and Izzy looked at her with a mix of sadness and anger. 

 

“The worst part is that they are right… I was never even meant to be part of this program in the first place. I’m filler, and nothing more…” Izzy was on the verge of tears, desperately trying to calm himself. “What if I fail Lightning? What if I drag you down with me?”  

 

Lightning responded instantly, her voice and eyes full of resolve. “If you fail, you can atleast say you tried. And if I wasn’t there to fall with you, what kind of friend would I be? You don’t have to change who you are, Izzy. Embrace it, and let it strengthen you. Come on, Richter called a meeting, and if we aren’t there in ten minutes we get extra laps.” She outstretched her hand, and Izzy gratefully took it, taking comfort in her grip. “Better?” She asked. Izzy nodded, and they walked off hand in hand.

 

“Delta!” Izzy’s eyes snapped open, and fell upon a concerned Hamil, currently standing over him. Izzy just now took notice of the excess amount of sweat he was producing. “What’s wrong?” Izzy asked, struggling to stand up. 

 

“You’re bleeding…” Hamil said quietly. “You also were thrashing around. You knocked over a lamp, and we heard it breaking.” 

 

“Apologies.” Izzy said, holding onto a chair arm for stability. He reached up to his nose, and sure enough a small trickle of cyan blood was flowing down his face.  

 

Hamil waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. Are you okay?”

 

Izzy paused, not exactly wanting to relay the contents of his dream. “I’m fine, it won’t happen again. Go to back to bed.”

 

“But-” Hamil began. “Trust me.” Izzy said, cutting him off.

 

Hamil lingered in the room for a moment before begrudgingly going to back to bed. As soon as he was sure Hamil was gone, Izzy collapsed onto the couch, rubbing his face. What was that vision about? He had to be the Izzy character, as he was the only male present. Then… who was Lightning? She obviously was a… close friend. And Cyrus… who was he, and why was he being compared to him? 

 

For the first time, Izzy felt true hope blossoming in him; there could be other humans like him out there! He had to find out. Rushing away tomorrow morning wouldn’t be the smartest plan; he still had no idea where to start. He had a start, and nothing would deter him from his goal. 

 

oo0OO0oo

 

Al grinned before stopping down on the outstretched tentacle of an Octarian, the creature yelping in pain before Al yanked it towards him. “Say goodnight!” He sang cheerfully, before sticking an octo-shot replica in its’ face and splatting it. 

 

A shadowy figure sat above the makeshift arena, and checked off a name on the list of names sitting next to him. “Exeunt one potential captain…” it murmured, before turning to an octoling at his side and saying “Bring the next one in, we aren’t stopping until we find a suitable commander.”

 

oo0OO0oo

 

They day had gone by without anything noteworthy happening, and when the first licks of darkness had rolled around, Izzy was close to counting scratches on the ceiling for entertainment. With Hamil’s permission, he rummaged around through his main closet.

 

After a bit of rummaging, he pulled out what looked like an acoustic guitar. The design was simple, a small black body, and five strings leading up the shaft. It was covered in designs of multi-colored ink splatters, and the tuners on the end had a small red LED on the end of each of them. 

 

Pulling it back out, he was mostly interested in just making a few random string plucks. He unconsciously correctly tuned the instrument perfectly, so when he let out a fell belt, the calm melody surprised him, along with B, who poked her head around the corner from the kitchen. 

 

Izzy loosened his muscles, and let his body play for him. He finished the song with a drawn out final note. Hearing a slow clap, he turned fully to face Hamil and B, who had been listening intently. A small blush rose to Izzy’s face, as he coughed and carefully placed the instrument next to him before reclining into the couch. 

 

“You’re pretty good.” Hamil said. “I’ve had that for a while now, but I couldn’t really get the hang of it.”

 

“Y-yeah.” B said. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard something like that before.” 

Izzy resisted the urge to raise both his eyebrows. To him, it was obvious B had a major crush on Hamil, but he seemed completely oblivious to it, or he was just attempting to hide it.

 

Hamil stood up and stretched. “Tomorrow I’m bringing you to see two people that I think can help with your predicament, Delta. If that’s okay, of course.”

 

“As long as they are sworn to secrecy.” Izzy half-joked.  Izzy had no idea what he was in for.

 

\---

 

Chapter 9: What once was

 

**A/N: Welcome to the weekend! You guys get two chapters today, so first you get a filler chapter! (Like the last two weren’t…) Anyways, I hope you enjoy! If you like the story, check out A Thief’s Quarrel: Izzy and A Thief’s Quarrel: Dapper Thief. It is a crossover with Izzy and a master thief, and it will contain more action than this story has had so far. Since the entire chapter is a flashback, it won’t be italicized. I fixed chapter 8 a little bit, some grammar issues and a rushed intro.**

 

Izzy winced and couldn’t help but let out a small groan. His left leg had turned into a shredded mess from the previous obstacle, the cuts so deep that bone was visible in some places. Dragging himself off to the side, he set about channeling his ASL into a concentrated burst, and his skin weaved and stitched itself back together. Testing his leg, he cursed the engineers of the new course. ASL did fix wounds, but didn’t make up for lost blood. He had already been injured twice before, and was feeling slightly dizzy.

 

He checked the device strapped to his arm. He was third out of tenth currently, Lightning and Cyrus were slightly ahead of him, probably unhindered by the barbed wire Izzy had come across. 

 

The light drizzle that had previously accompanied the training session turned into a vicious downpour, soaking the ground and turning the hardly packed dirt into a pool of mud. Taking a deep breath, Izzy dove back into the storm to finish the course.

 

oo0OO0oo 

 

Izzy fell unto his dorm bed, the usual stiff and rigidness of it feeling like a godsend. He was both physically and mentally exhausted, and small amounts of bile worked it’s way up to his sore throat as he gasped for air. His muscles finally relaxed, and Izzy was on his way towards a deep sleep. His eyes began to close slowly, the backdrop of reality fading as sleep overtook his mind. 

 

“ON YOUR FEET CADET IZZY!” A voice loudly interrupted. Izzy instantly snapped to attention and fell to a light battle stance, not entirely sure what the person said due to him being only half conscious. One the words had registered, he changed his stance to a formal salute, recognizing the squad commander Richter. Richter and Cyrus held the position of commander meaning they had authority over all the squads, while Lightning, Simon, and Arc were squad leaders. 

 

“Sir?” Izzy questioned, having not yet broken the formal salute pose. 

 

Richter looked him up and down, before saying “At ease cadet. Tonight at 2400 hours, your ASL will take on defining characteristics, enhancing your natural strengths. Central command requires all units in the squad to arrive at least one hour early for measuring purposes. You know where the usual gathering hall is, so I expect you to be on time and ready for it. Any questions?” Izzy nodded his head, and Richter went to wake up the next unlucky squad mate. 

 

oo0OO0oo

 

“What do you mean I don’t have a defining ASL power!?” Izzy demanded, embarrassed and enraged by the ordeal.

 

“All the other units in your squad have shown signs of improvement to due ASL capacity. For example, your squad leader Lightning had a remarkable improvement in both agility and speed. You however, have not shown any major signs of growth in any areas. Unfortunately, this means you will be held back while the other squads progress to stage two.” The man finished, boredom evident on his voice.

 

Izzy was devastated, everything he had worked so hard for was thrown out the window because his stupid ASL didn’t work right. He was tempted to break the commissioner's nose to see how strong Izzy really was, but luckily for both of them, someone spoke up.

 

“Sir.” Lightning began, having slipped into the room during Izzy’s questioning. “Don’t you think it is too early to completely erase any chance of cadet Izzy’s success? He was administered with the ASL enhancements later than any other unit, and yet he has shown remarkable improvement in all areas despite that. He also had the highest versatility out of the units, being able to be matched up against any other specialist and coming out victorious because of it.”

 

The man squinted, before turning to Lightning. “If you want your credibility on the line, I can move him along with the rest to stage 2. Know that if he does not perform as well as you say he will, loss of your squad leader status will ensue.”

 

Lightning nodded firmly. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

 

**A/N: Short chapter, I know. But you are getting another (longer) one today, and I felt the need to flesh out part of Izzy’s relationship with the characters mentioned in the previous flashbacks. You also got your first taste of ASL having a limit; and don’t worry about Mary Sues (power wise). ASL will have many limits to be tested… but limits were meant to be broken, weren’t they? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 

\---

 

Chapter 10: Twin Stars 

 

**A/N: So, I didn’t get two chapters posted yesterday. I will spare you the details, but know that my left arm will probably be broken for a while. On the bright side, I am right handed, so I can continue this :D. Also, you get more Splatoon-ish related sorta things in this chapter. Why? Well, it has been 10k words and the closest thing I have is a reference to Turf Wars like once I think. Also, future lost. Boooo!**

 

Izzy still felt the after effects of the vision. He could still hear Lightning’s voice, the cold rain pelting him as he traipsed through a muddy obstacle course. Shaking the feeling off, he tried to not think about it. It added more questions to his already impressive pile of unanswered mysteries. Izzy’s stomach growled loudly, and he realized he hadn’t eaten or had water for the past three days. Resigned to the fact that Hamil didn’t keep any water around for some reason, (seriously, how did he drink?) and the sink dispensed colored liquid that Izzy would rather not test. The food might be edible, it looked mostly like extreme seafood, so eating that should NOT be a problem.

 

“Good, you’re awake.” Izzy turned to see Hamil wearing some sort of disguise leaning against the door to his room. “If you are wondering, we were going to leave in the middle of the night. I couldn’t wake you up ; were you having a nightmare again?”

 

Izzy shook his head. “Sorry about that. Where exactly are we going? And aren’t you supposed to be taking B back as well?

 

“They still have the kettle to Octo Valley blocked off still, I think it is mostly because they are too lazy to unblock it. Still you can’t be too careful, especially considering inkling’s… strenuous relations with Octarians.” Hamil explained. “I honestly have no idea what to do with you, so I’m taking you to squids who can help. My friends are coming back from their camping trip today, so I can’t really afford having you both here.”

 

Izzy nodded briefly. “I understand, I’m ready to go if you are.”

 

oo0OO0oo

 

Luckily, the trip to the studio type area they had arrived at was uneventful. Hamil had lived in Inkopolis for about a year, and knew some of the back alleyway paths and side streets to take. Arriving at a conspicuous metal door adorned with many symbols that even Izzy knew meant danger, Hamil pulled out a phone shaped like a squid and made a call. 

 

Izzy wanted to desperately leave and search for any other humans like him who had made it, but where would he start? It was better to stick with Hamil and whomever he was about to meet for now. Despite the fact Izzy had full trust in Hamil, his heart still thudded nervously in his chest. 

 

When the door finally opened, Izzy was taken aback. Not by an oversized hulking brute of an inkling, but by two female ones who stood a good head and a half shorter than Izzy. One had white hair, and had a dress type midsection with a green and black motif, while the other had black hair with a pink and black tight fitting shirt. 

 

Warning bells went off in the back of Izzy’s mind, where had he seen these two before?

 

“Heya Agent 3 and friend!” the pink one cheerily proclaimed, catching Izzy off guard. She seemed oddly cheery for the situation. 

 

The green one was quietly observing him, and Izzy returned her gaze with one of his own. Their eyes locked for a moment before she looked away and cleared her throat. Meanwhile, Hamil had been explaining the situation to the pink one, who was nodding eagerly. 

 

“So… can it understand us?” The green one asked, prompting Izzy to give a soft chuckle. 

 

“You could call me something more polite than ‘it’ you know.” He said quietly

“Huh that is not at all what I expected you to sound like.. anyway sorry if we offended you! My name is Marie, what’s yours?” She said, extending her hand. That was twice in the space of a few minutes Izzy was shocked by her kind and trusting personality. He reached out and gave her a handshake. 

 

“Delta.” He said simply. 

 

oo0OO0oo 

 

“So you’re saying this Cuttlefish guy has met humans before?” Izzy questioned, taken aback by the discovery. 

 

Callie nodded. “I believe it was during the Great Turf War that he met two humans, one female and one male. I don’t know what happened to them, as grandpa would never finish that part of the story no matter how much I asked or Marie begged him.” She glanced over to said squid, who was currently engaged in a conversation with Hamil in the longue, both unaware of the information Callie had told him. 

 

“Maire called Hamil Agent 3 when she first saw him. Does that mean anything significant?” Izzy implored. He saw Callie stiffen involuntarily before replying.

 

“I suppose it doesn't matter telling you; after all the Cap’n might extend an invite to the team if he likes you.” She murmured. “But yes, bottom line is that I am Agent 1, Marie is Agent 2, and Hamil is Agent 3. We also have two other agents you have not met yet, their names are 

Walvi and Sepio. Hamil hangs out with them, so you might have seen them once or twice. Together, we form a team called a ‘Splatoon’. Our Splatoon today is in charge of keeping the Octarian menace at bay. Recently, they stole the Great Zapfish; our main source of power. Without it, our reserves can only last so long.”

 

Izzy soaked in the information, sipping a cup of water that Callie and Marie had to specially order. “So you and other operatives have been undertaking somewhat of a shadow war to reclaim this… Great Zapfish?”

 

She nodded. “Yes, basically. Cap’n Cuttlefish is the leader of our Splatoon; he recruits new agents and oversees our mission. In his day, he was one of the best soldiers inklings had ever known, and today he still proves to be a resourceful commander.” Callie paused “He also our grandfather. Well, me and Marie’s to be exact.”

 

“So when do I meet the Cap’n?” Izzy asked.

 

Callie looked at her watch briefly, before smiling at Izzy. “Now, if you can actually convince Marie to move.”

 

oo0OO0oo

 

The group had moved quickly, taking a route akin to the one Hamil had led Izzy on. They came to a teapot shaped structure with a grate covering the top of it. Grime and dirt caked the sides, and rust was evident on the metallic build of the grate. 

 

“What exactly is this?” Izzy said. He had seen one before on the night he made contact with Hamil, but had never received a true explanation of what is was or what it did.

  
“A kettle.” Hamil answered for him. “We use them to fast travel to certain spots by shifting into squid mode and sliding through them.”

 

“How exactly am I supposed to use them? Last time I checked, I’m not mainly completely composed of liquid, and can’t shapeshift.” The squid trio looked at him incredulously.

 

“You can’t?” Marie questioned. “How did Humans get around?”

 

“Walking and vehicles.” Izzy said. “I never got to use a teleporter; they were still in beta when the flood warnings were issued, so they never really got finished.” 

 

“Vehicles seem a really inefficient way to travel, our fastest car is like 40 MPH at best.” Hamil interjected.

 

Izzy laughed, before noticing the serious look on his face. “Really? Our fastest LAND based vehicle goes like 270 MPH. Our fastest aircraft is like over 4,000 MPH. I can see why you need these things though.” Izzy said, kicking the kettle. An idea blossomed in his mind. “Say, is there just a stream of liquid that flows in a direction in kettles?”

 

Receiving a nod from the inklings present, Izzy grinned before continuing. “If you don’t mind the collateral damage, I can just punch through the grate, and ride the stream to our destination. It’s fairly rusted already, so anyone who checks will probably chalk it up to wear and tear.” Hamil looked like he didn’t care, Marie simply shrugged, and Callie nodded after a minute of thought. 

 

“That is… pretty smart actually.” Callie said, shrugging. “If you’re up to a bit of swimming, go for it.”

 

oo0OO0oo

 

A short time and more property damage later, the inkling trio and Izzy arrived near a shack in Octo Valley.

 

“Eugh, what even is this stuff!?” Izzy complained, shaking his body to get rid of the clingy goo. 

 

“It’s ink, what else would it be.?” Hamil said, a small smile on his face. 

 

Izzy did a mental facepalm. Of course it was ink! They were squids and… “Wait.” He began. “Don’t you produce ink from your… you know what? Nevermind.” Izzy shuddered at the implications of what he had just done.

 

Still half covered in a layer of yellow ink, and flailing about trying to rid his body of it, the grins of Marie and Hamil evolved into full-fledged laughter, while even Callie cracked a small smile at his predicament.

 

‘Let’s go.” Izzy grumbled before marching over to the shack. Plastered onto it was several pictures, either of Octarians or Callie and Marie. This was presumably the right place based on the description he had received from Callie, so he rapped gently on the door.

  
The door flung open, and Izzy saw a withered elderly inkling. Narrowing his’ eyes at Izzy, the inkling twitched his beard before shouting: “Back for more are ye? I’ll show ye a true inkling!” before raising his cane, which had a flip scope attached to it. Izzy paled as a stream of green ink came straight for his face. 


End file.
